What I remember most: the downhill

On Monday night I attended William J. Perry's lecture in the Fairmont Hotel's Gold room (same spot as our office holiday party!) sponsored by the Commonwealth Club. William Perry is a former Secretary of Defense under Clinton, and was one of the members of the Iraq Study Group.
I took a cab to the hotel because I was running late, thankfully, because somehow I forgot that it was WAY way waaay up hill. (How could I forget the Fairmont was on Nob Hill?!) The thing I remember most about the evening is walking back down the (very steep) hill. My calves are still aching but as I was walking, I felt very in-the-San Francisco-moment. Thankfully, the route on California Street down towards Montgomery was gorgeous, including cable cars, the edge of china town, and the bay bridge in the distance. It had that SF city vibe that I forget we have. (Kinda concerned my knees would collapse under the stress, but yay, they made it.)
I wasn't sure if I would make it to the lecture because it was on a Monday, I was so tired, and to be honest - afraid it would be boring. However, it is a bit of an incentive to know that I paid a nominal fee. Thankfully, I stayed awake and alert, pen and paper in hand, glasses on so I could see, and was, thankfully, impressed by William Perry's speech. He is a very good speaker, blunt, smart as a whip, and funny in a very dry way, which I adore.
Most memorable quote (about Bush): "Often in Error, Never in doubt."
He commented a couple of times that Bush's plan was "tactical not strategic," but I'm afraid I missed the nuance of that, but it did stick with me.
That's all folks, not going to rehash the speech. I am sure you will be able to download it and listen to it if you are so inclined.
Oh, and about the downhill...I've got to improve my night camera techniques, but this was why my legs were seriously quivery by the time I got to my car:
This is a short post, because gosh, all the political blogs say what the Iraq Study Group (ISG) report says better than I ever could and it would be boring. The things that struck me as oh so very sad were the comments about how one tiny portion of the ghastly 1.2 trillion we have spent on this war could have made serious in-roads into solving real problems like alternative energy & combating global warming. The irony. I am always struck when I listen to folks who served under Clinton that they are so intelligent and well-spoken. It makes me sad to think about the crap we have had to listen to coming from our "leaders" and the media over the past 6 years. The Romans had lead to blame, what can they blame on the downfall of our country? (I'm theorizing here: it will be Corn Syrup.) Yes, I think that was a joke, it was the first thing that came into my head, but on second thought, may not be far off the mark.
Slogging through the week at work, getting past my horrible New Year's realization that I am embarking on yet another year just like last year. Gonna have to continue to shake things up in a really big way. Not sure how, but I gotta do it.
This is the winner for loveliest post of the week.